Evans happy with early bike form in Oman

Date: February 17 2013

Cadel Evans is feeling good after his first race of the year and his boss John Lelangue is even happier as BMC Racing claimed the team prize at the Tour of Oman.

Britain's Team Sky rider Chris Froome took the overall prize by 27 seconds from Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff), the two-time Tour de France winner, with Evans, who won the Tour de France in 2011, a further 12 seconds back.

"Third isn't bad," the Australian said.

"It was a nice race with a good level of riders. It's hard to say something about my condition for the Tour de France, but I can say that after my first race I am feeling good and my condition is good."

Lelangue was pleased with the team's results throughout the six-day race; Taylor Phinney's third place on the final stage added to podiums by Greg Van Avermaet (second on Stage 2) and Evans (third on Stage 4).

"This was confirmation that Cadel did good winter training and that he is ready, maybe not at the top level for the moment, but that was not the objective," Lelangue said of their efforts in the Gulf.

"All the team was present throughout the week, so we can be confident we have a strong team, both for the classics and the upcoming stage races."

Evans' next race will be Tirreno-Adriatico (March 6-12), followed by defence of his overall title at Criterium International (March 23-24).

French national champion Nacer Bouhanni won the 144km sixth stage into Muscat on Saturday, out-sprinting Australian Matthew Goss of Orica-GreenEDGE and American Phinney.

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